Delhi meet keeps pace with Bengaluru or should it be said does one better? Going by sheer numbers, the 38-party led NDA meeting in the national capital was ahead of the 26-party INDIA meet in the southern capital of Karnataka, which of course is encouraged by recently booting out the BJP.

However, it’s not simple, but an onerous task ahead. The numbers game for 2024 not only involves mathematics but what the States and regional partners—big or small have to offer. The Opposition combine’s strength as of now in Lok Sabha is about 150 seats as against over 330 of NDA, and the big challenge is whether INDIA will be able to find ways to unite and do away with rivalry in States such as Bengal, Kerala, Punjab, J&K, and Delhi and put-up common candidates.

Likewise, will the NDA, which has reached out for the first time to its allies since 2019, gain by the small parties it has tied up with, to add numbers? Of the 37 parties, 10 didn’t participate in the last general elections, and of the remaining 23 that contested, only eight managed to win at least a seat.

However, the fact that Modi’s speech sounded an election speech rather than hearing his partners and that he sought to make amends with regional allies which had been alienated, reveals the NDA has a contest to worry about.

At the same time, INDIA can’t afford to sound too confident as ‘Jeetega Bharat’is a tall order. The ensuing Assembly elections hopefully should help both strategize rather than train guns alone.